Sacred Images, Holy Spaces: Art and Faith in Poland and Italy

Sacred Images, Holy Spaces: Art and Faith in Poland and Italy, curated by Dr. John Radzilowski, Director, and coordinated by Elijah Majeski, Galeria Manager; the opening will feature a performance by pianist Kamil Pacholec on October 19th at 4 p.m. The Honorary Consul to Poland in Detroit, Richard Walawender, and the Consul of Italy in Detroit, Allegra Baistrocchi, have endorsed the exhibit. They will be the main sponsors of the exhibition. This event is the first in a series of programs to honor the Galeria's reopening after a decade of renovation and planning, culminating with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Spring 2025.

Sacred Images, Holy Spaces: Art and Faith in Poland and Italy draw from the art collections at Orchard Lake to demonstrate the cultural exchanges between Poland and Italy over centuries via their shared devotion to the Catholic faith.

The featured artists will span the 16th century to the 1970s and include Luca da Reggio, Giovanni Battista Lombardi, Saturnin Świerzyński, Jacek Malczewski, Kazimierz Sichulski, Nikifor, and Zofia Stryjeńska, among others.

As one moves through the Galeria, one will witness painterly impressions of divine light pierce through earthly shadows to reveal skillfully rendered figures within the realm of Baroque Italian sensibilities. This stark, stylistic contrast between light and dark has had a profound impact on sacred art, even to the present day. Polish depictions of Biblical imagery borrowed many of these visual motifs, eventually imbuing them with expressive color and honed attention to the surrounding landscape. In the modern era, these forms and hues flattened into bold, eye-catching compositions prioritizing symbolic representation over realistic depiction. Beyond painting, masterful examples of drawing and marble sculpture sit within the presence of home altars representative of those found in immigrant homes here in Detroit. In this way, the exhibition traces intercultural developments in art history while revealing such images' relevance to the faithful's daily practice.

Imbued with metaphorical interpretation, regardless of style, images in Catholic art are neither worshiped nor mere decoration; they instead represent the spirit's indwelling within the "flesh" of the material world. Whether sitting within a cathedral or one's own home, such artworks serve as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, offering meaning that cannot always be captured in words but must be presently experienced to be grasped.

Sacred Images, Holy Spaces: Art and Faith in Poland and Italy will be on view from October 19, 2024 – January 7, 2025.

The Galeria is open to the public by appointment and on Polish First Sundays at Orchard Lake. Please contact Elijah Majeski at emajeski@picrol.org to schedule a visit.